-
Ideas are easy. It's the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats. Sue Grafton Happy 75th birthday, Sue Grafton! The beloved…
-
Maybe some people just aren't meant to be in our lives forever. Maybe some people are just passing through. It's like some people just come through o…
-
In love, no question is ever preposterous. André Brink Happy 79th birthday, André Brink! The South African novelist was part of a movement to use Afr…
-
To him the stars seemed like so many musical notes affixed to the sky, just waiting for somebody to unfasten them. Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis As …
-
She refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring. Zelda Fitzgerald March 10, 1948: Novelist, painter, and dancer Zelda Fitzgerald and her hu…
-
We sit in the mud, my friend, and reach for the stars. Ivan Turgenev Even though they were his contemporaries and countrymen, Russian novelist Ivan T…
-
Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing. Emma Donoghue Happy birthday, Emma Donoghue! The Irish-born novelist was inspired to writ…
-
I am a lover and have not found my thing to love. Sherwood Anderson American novelist Sherwood Anderson (born September 13, 1876) was married four ti…
-
Nothing whets the intelligence more than a passionate suspicion, nothing develops all the faculties of an immature mind more than a trail running awa…
-
You are never stronger...than when you land on the other side of despair. Zadie Smith Happy 39th birthday, Zadie Smith! Both of the acclaimed novelis…
-
Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories. Zadie Smith Happy birthday, Zadie Smith! Before becoming a writ…
-
Trust no friend without faults, and love a woman, but no angel. Doris Lessing April 16, 1962: Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook was published 53 ye…
-
The truth is life is full of joy and full of great sorrow, but you can't have one without the other. Andre Dubus III Happy birthday, Andre Dubus III!…
-
For to know a man's library is, in some measure, to know his mind. Geraldine Brooks Happy 59th birthday, Geraldine Brooks! The Australian-born novel…
-
She kept swimming out into life because she hadn't yet found a rock to stand on. Barbara Kingsolver Happy 60th birthday, Barbara Kingsolver! The nove…
-
Next to music, beer was best. Carson McCullers Novelist Carson McCullers left her Georgia home for New York and Paris, but her stories of loneliness …
-
Know something, sugar? Stories only happen to people who can tell them. Allan Gurganus Happy birthday, Allan Gurganus! The American novelist was 26 w…
-
The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place. Chinua Achebe Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe (born Nove…
-
If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin. Ivan Turgenev Russian novelist and playwright Ivan T…
-
Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there's no room for the present at all. Evelyn Waugh Because of his fi…
-
Do no harm and leave the world a better place than you found it. Patricia Cornwell Before she became a bestselling crime novelist, Patricia Cornwell …
-
For sometimes you can't help but crave some ruin in what you love. Chang-rae Lee Happy 49th birthday, Chang-rae Lee! The Korean American novelist wri…
-
We are crayons and lunchboxes and swinging so high our sneakers punch holes in the clouds. Laurie Halse Anderson Happy 53rd birthday, Laurie Halse An…
-
People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned. Saul Bellow November 27, 1947: On this day, Saul Bellow got a job offer. His fathe…
-
I am fated to journey hand in hand with my strange heroes and to survey the surging immensity of life, to survey it through the laughter that all can…
-
It is 'where we are' that should make all the difference, whether we believe we belong there or not. Chang-rae Lee After working on Wall Street for a…
-
To go wrong in one's own way is better then to go right in someone else's. Fyodor Dostoyevsky Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky came up with the id…
-
Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it's a way of making cont…
-
Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts. Harper Lee Happy 89th birthday, Harper Lee! As a child, the American novelist was cl…
-
Isn't it strange how life won't flow, like a river, but moves in jumps, as if it were held back by locks that are opened now and then to let it jump …
-
The best thing to do was to brazen it out, throw your head back, walk with a swagger... Sarah Waters Happy 48th birthday, Sarah Waters! The Welsh nov…
-
To say goodbye is to die a little. Raymond Chandler American novelist Raymond Chandler (born July 23, 1888) worked with director Alfred Hitchcock on …
-
I've been homesick for countries I've never been, and longed to be where I couldn't be. John Cheever American novelist John Cheever (born May 27, 191…
-
Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon. E.M. Forster May 20, 1915: On this day, esteemed English novelist E.M. F…
-
Perhaps the rare and simple pleasure of being seen for what one is compensates for the misery of being it. Margaret Drabble Happy 75th birthday, Marg…
-
Between memory and reality there are awkward discrepancies... Eileen Chang Shanghai-born novelist Eileen Chang (died September 8, 1995) wrote novels …
-
Life is a very bad novelist. It is chaotic and ludicrous. Javier Marías Happy birthday, Javier Marías! Before becoming one of Spain's most celebrated…
-
Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. Colette May 21,1910: On this day, French novelist Colette (born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette) be…
-
There's something to be said about a slightly plump person—you have just enough of too much. Jamaica Kincaid Happy 68th birthday, Jamaica Kincaid! Bo…
-
Language is a poor enough means of communication as it is. So we should use all the words we have. Caitlín R. Kiernan Happy birthday, Caitlín R. Kie…
-
In the planning stage of a book, don't plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it. Rose Tremain Happy birthday, Rose Tremain!…
-
If you ask me what I want, I'll tell you. I want everything. Kathy Acker Pirates fascinated American novelist Kathy Acker (born April 18, 1947). As a…
-
She wasn't a person to whom things happen. She did all the happenings. Muriel Spark January 26, 1963: On this day, Scottish novelist Muriel Spark thr…
-
Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul... Marguerite Yourcenar French novelist Marguerite Yourcenar (born…
-
The great thing about being a writer is that you are always re-creating yourself. Martin Cruz Smith Martin Cruz Smith (born November 3, 1942) is a be…
-
Perhaps the rare and simple pleasure of being seen for what one is compensates for the misery of being it. Margaret Drabble Happy 78th birthday, Marg…
-
Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change – it can not only move us, it makes us move. Ossie Davis Georgia-native Ossie…
-
If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing. Kingsley Amis English novelist Kingsley Amis (born April 16, 1922) divorced his first …
-
How I wish I lived in a Jane Austen novel! Dodie Smith English children's novelist Dodie Smith (born May 3, 1896) owned nine Dalmatians. While visiti…
-
I've been homesick for countries I've never been, and longed to be where I couldn't be. John Cheever American novelist John Cheever (born May 27, 191…